I started a new program with my trainer. he suggested eating roughly 1200 calories a day - with 50% protein, 40% carbs, 10% fat. I am finding it so hard to come close to this! I am always so carb heavy and normally this is something I wouldn't care about but I thought I'd test out his advice. Anyone have any luck getting 50% of your calories from protein?

I would probably be inclined to lower the protein a bit and raise the fats; if you are training with any kind of intensity you would get benefits from increasing your healthy fats/EFA's quite a bit higher than 10%. Carbs are probably okay around 40%.

I have to say that IMHO, it's nowhere near enough. How can you expect to build muscle on that amount of calories coming in, not to mention that your metabolism will probably slow down at the same time.

If you ever want an alternative opinion feel free to drop me a line. FWIW, I'm a Personal Trainer of 10+ years and owner of a health store. It always amazes me how many trainers out there don't have a good grip on the nutrition element of fat loss and/or muscle gain.

The good news is, you don't need to eat that way, and it's not healthy.

I've stumbled upon the reality of fat-storage. Btw, you don't seem overly-fat, but listening to wacky trainers, you may end UP fat. In this video, I explain the real reason people get fat, and yo-yo, never staying thin.

New World Vegan wrote:I've heard the opposite. I'd like to hear the reasoning to this.

Out of curiosity, where or who have you heard that from

Health is probably the main thing, and diet-wise ideally you want to be eating a variety of foods that are higher in monounsaturated & polyunsaturated fats. Researchers and scientists are repeatedly finding that the countries/people with the lowest recorded incidence of cardiovascular disease also have a very high, regular intake of omega 3 fatty acids (and other healthy EFA components such as HUFA's MUFA's, PUFA's, arachidonic acid etc). MUFAs can be of benefit to insulin levels and blood sugar control and PUFAs (found mostly in plant-based foods and oils) can help decrease the risk of Type II diabetes as well as reducing LDL whilst raising HDL cholesterol.The Okinawans and Inuit's for example have been shown to have an average Omega 3 intake of around 17,000mg/day and their race has virtually NO cholesterol, heart or CV problems. These types of ethicities have zero/very minimal elevations in cardiac inflammatory biomarkers and this is shown again and again in studies.

In terms of EFA's being of benefit to athletic performance, good food sources of healthy fats would be things like mixed raw nuts (walnuts, brazil, macadamia are all good), avocado, almond butter, coconut oil etc. Chia seeds are also something I like to add in to my diet as they are rich in omega content (mainly a-linolenic acid, also known as ALA). They're also a great source of antioxidants and contains a variety of amino acids, plus their mucilage is effective at cleaning and detoxifying the intestines as well as being a reasonably effective appetite curber. If you buy a good chia then it should be gluten free and shelf stable for years due to it containing Cinnamic acids that help guard the omega oils from oxidation. Another bonus is that it has a positive effect on blood sugar levels, which is great for athletes as blood sugar levels can fluctuate a lot as the duration of the exercise increases.

So to summarise, raising your intake of EFA's (especially omega 3) will offer anti-inflammatory benefits as well as reducing CV risk factors as I mentioned above. I would be careful on increasing the intake of omega 6 as this is pro-inflammatory due to the fact that it increases the production of inflammatory chemicals known as eicosanoids; also worth noting that a rise in omega 6 intake will decrease omega 3 levels. Another bonus is that supplemental EFA’s have been shown to stimulate muscle protein synthesis in older adults.